'Tax isn't a level playing field,' says Sainsbury's boss Justin King

Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King says there is "a big debate to be
had at a national level" about "levelling the playing field"
for tax between high street shops and retailers that operate solely on the
internet.

"Clearly real stores in real high streets bear the lion's share of the tax burden in our country today," said Mr King.

"They pay rates, they employ people at a local level, and of course that's a good thing for local economies. Businesses that only operate in the internet world don't do that and I therefore think there is a big debate to be had at a national level about levelling the playing field between bricks and mortar high street type retailers and those that only operate on the internet."

He added that customers who are dissatisfied with certain retailers' tax arrangements should consider changing where they shop.

His comments came as the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee called on HM Revenue & Customs to "fully investigate" Google, after finding that the internet giant uses "highly contrived" tax arrangements with the sole purpose of avoiding corporation tax on its multibillion-pound revenues in the UK.